The pontine A5 noradrenergic cells which project to the spinal cord dorsal horn are reciprocally connected with the caudal ventrolateral medulla in the rat.

Abstract

A disynaptic pathway linking the caudal ventrolateral medulla (VLM) to the spinal cord via the A5 noradrenergic cell group of the pons has recently been described in the rat. In the present work, the projections of the A5 to the VLM and to the spinal dorsal horn were studied with double-tracing techniques combined with immunostaining of the noradrenaline-synthesizing enzyme dopamine-beta-hydroxylase. Cholera toxin subunit B (CTb) injected into the VLM and fluoro-gold injected into the spinal dorsal horn produced double retrograde labelling of A5 neurons immunoreactive for dopamine-beta-hydroxylase, which received appositions of fibre varicosities labelled anterogradely with CTb injected into the VLM. After injecting CTb into the A5, retrogradely labelled neurons occurred in the VLM. These neurons were contacted by anterogradely labelled fibres from the A5 group. These observations indicate that the VLM cells acting upon the A5 spinally projecting neurons, which are likely to exert an alpha2-adrenoreceptor-mediated inhibition on the spinal cord, are targeted by collaterals of the A5 spinal cord-bound axons. The A5-VLM pathway may be the anatomical substrate of a negative feedback circuit whereby the modulatory action of the VLM on the spinal cord is self-inhibited through activation of the A5.